Pujols to Anaheim

I don't think too many people saw that one coming...
is it true that Miami put Hanley R. up for trade?

Will be cool for AL teams to see Mr. Pujols now for the next decade.

I'm very surprised the Cardinals let him get away if this is true. Wow!

I guess the security of 10 years, and the ability to do some DH'ing, got his attention.

Truly unfortunate, had he stayed with the Cardinals he could've ended up a team icon like Stan Musial. I think some day he might regret this decision.

Cardinal nation will be surprised and upset, I would think.

Given the length of the deal and his age, probably better he goes to an AL team where he can DH in declining years??

I thought the Latin connection might win him over to the Marlins but I guess it came down to money and ego! I believe he would have stayed in St. Louis had they tried hard last Winter to get him under contract.

And I did hear that Hanley R. was being shopped AND the Freddie Gonzales and the Braves were not interested.

The Cardinals are one of the smartest organizations in baseball. They knew what he was worth to the franchise and were not willing to go above that. They also have some of the smartest fans in baseball, they sell out their stadium nearly every game and a $200M+ plus contract would have been an anchor for that franchise. The fans will understand this and keep on supporting their team. They will take that money and go get a number of role players and keep on winning. They will look back at this and thank their lucky stars someone took him off their hands. Smart move IMO by the Cardinals. (hey they can go get a SS now...)

Pujols will be of value for the Angels for a number of years and will help them attract the Latino community, and he will be able to DH in the later years of the contract. That said Arte Moreno just spent more money on one player than what he paid for the WHOLE FRANCHISE. (by a lot ~ $70M) The Dodger franchise is a mess right now (which has a large Latino following) and the Angels are trying to seize the moment. Time will tell if it is worth it, but it makes more sense for them than probably any other team other than NY or Boston.

This corner of Cardinal nation thinks it's better to be the team that underpays for the first half of his career than the one that overpays for the second half.

I'm grateful for all he accomplished and wish him well.

Angels get CJ Wilson, too.

Can you imagine the phone calls Scioscia is fielding from players today? I'll bet Trumbo, Morales and Abreu will all be calling him today to try and see how this is going to affect them.

One of them is going to be out of luck this season unless the Angels can pull off a trade. Trumbo probably has the most value in a trade and of course would be the one they'd most want to keep. Should be plenty more hot stove activity for the Angels.

I'm guessing this just added about 30 points to Vernon Wells batting average next season.

Angels get AB and CJ Wilson too? AL West just got a little tougher! GED10DaD

So did the wild card. Don't forget Hawkins as one of their biggest needs was bullpen depth. This probably allows them to move one of their #5 candidates to the pen also. Scioscia may get a call or two from pitchers also.

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BOF said...The Cardinals are one of the smartest organizations in baseball.

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Swampboy said... This corner of Cardinal nation thinks it's better to be the team that underpays for the first half of his career than the one that overpays for the second half.

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MidloDad....I guess the security of 10 years, and the ability to do some DH'ing, got his attention.

Truly unfortunate, had he stayed with the Cardinals he could've ended up a team icon like Stan Musial. I think some day he might regret this decision.

I totally agree. Tough business decision that got easier for St Louis as the price and years went up. Going to the American League made a lot of sense across those 10 years, so he can be DHing when he is (gulp) 41. I think he will regret this decision too when he hangs up his cleats to make the trip to Cooperstown. He had a lot going on in St Louis. I can't help but wonder in the back of my mind if Tony LaRussa's retirement played a significant part of this decision.

Angels are spending like the drunken sailors on the east coast now. No way nearly 32 year old Pujols is worth $250m+ over 10 years... No way 31 year old Wilson is worth $75m over 5 years... Both are worth the per year amount, just not the years at their ages. I don't blame the guys for taking what they can get. But the Angels show they are desperate.

Excluding playoffs and preseason games, this amounts to $156,790.12 per game, or roughly $36,400 per at bat.

Alas, as usual, it's all about the money. If you pay the money, you can buy the services...kind of sounds like the world's oldest profession, no?

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
Angels are spending like the drunken sailors on the east coast now. No way nearly 32 year old Pujols is worth $250m+ over 10 years... No way 31 year old Wilson is worth $75m over 5 years... Both are worth the per year amount, just not the years at their ages. I don't blame the guys for taking what they can get. But the Angels show they are desperate.

Clearly tired of the Rangers beating them the last two years. I am perfectly good with Wilson hitting the road for that kind of money as well.

Will be interesting to see if Rangers do something with Fielder or Yu Darvish now.

BIG Tex better make a move soon or I predict an ol' fashioned whooping is headed our way!

GED10DaD

I don't think you'll see the Rangers make any moves on position players. Pitchers is where they will make their moves. Starting rotation wise, Rangers have basically moved Wilson out and plugged Feliz in...Rangers got better with that move without hurting their pen.

You are probably right. This group has shown to be pretty conservative with the dollars so far. Hard to argue with their results

I like Moreland but wouldn't break my heart to see an upgrade there.

For a fan of a team that used to be among the game's top spenders, but now seems stuck at about the $95M payroll level, this is really depressing.

I agree with those who think Pujols may someday regret leaving St. Louis. He will be viewed there much as A-Rod was in Seattle after he left for Texas. But St. Louis did the right thing. The Angels will reap the benefits of the first half of this contract but I wonder about the second half....

C.J. is a great addition to an already tough Angels rotation. I wonder if this causes a ripple in other AL West front offices, and causes them to be just a little more aggressive in reaction. I know the Mariners are supposedly in on Prince Fielder (which I'm not a big fan of, at least if it is a 6-8 year deal - I have visions of Mo Vaughn's career arc and it is not pretty), and I wonder now if Texas will be too. Yu Darvish, too.

Edgar...you won't ever hear the Rangers admit it, but I think they really wish they had Blake Beavans back.

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Originally posted by Tx-Husker:

"Edgar...you won't ever hear the Rangers admit it, but I think they really wish they had Blake Beavans back."

I think you're right.

Beavan reminds me a little bit of the way Doug Fister developed here. Pitch to contact, low strikeout rates, don't worry about high fly ball rates (after all, you're pitching in Safeco), learn to pitch first and increase velocity after you figure out how to pitch at the MLB level. That formula has worked pretty well for Fister, and I think it will work pretty well for Beavan too.

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:
The Cardinals are one of the smartest organizations in baseball. They knew what he was worth to the franchise and were not willing to go above that. They also have some of the smartest fans in baseball, they sell out their stadium nearly every game and a $200M+ plus contract would have been an anchor for that franchise. The fans will understand this and keep on supporting their team. They will take that money and go get a number of role players and keep on winning. They will look back at this and thank their lucky stars someone took him off their hands. Smart move IMO by the Cardinals. (hey they can go get a SS now...)

Pujols will be of value for the Angels for a number of years and will help them attract the Latino community, and he will be able to DH in the later years of the contract. That said Arte Moreno just spent more money on one player than what he paid for the WHOLE FRANCHISE. (by a lot ~ $70M) The Dodger franchise is a mess right now (which has a large Latino following) and the Angels are trying to seize the moment. Time will tell if it is worth it, but it makes more sense for them than probably any other team other than NY or Boston.

Frankly, I'm not surprised that Arte Moreno pulled the trigger on Pujols...but $250,000,000? That's Crazy! I agree with BOF's statement above; Arte is most definitely seizing the moment, and taking advantage of the horrible mess in Dodgers Town. Let's not forget that the Halos also landed a top LHP in CJ Wilson...The California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels are in great shape!

As for the Cardinals, will they go after Prince? Who knows? I think they'll go Hard after a shortstop? There's a good possibility that Hanley will be open to a trade, as apparently he's not happy about moving to 3B in Miami? Deep down I'm rooting for Allen Craig to get his shot as an everyday player in the Cardinals lineup. He's No Pujols, but if healthy, he'll put up 25-30 HR's and 80-100 RBI's...JMO, maybe I'm a little biased?

The one thing I wonder about with the Pujols signing is what it does for guys like Trumbo and Trout. I mean, at this point, with Pujols plugging in to 1B, the Angels basically have three spots in the line-up for some combination of Trumbo, Trout, Wells, Hunter, Morales, and Abreu. I know some of those guys (Hunter, Abreu, Morales) will be eligible for free agency in 2013, so maybe they're just planning ahead or doing their 2013 "Christmas shopping" a little early, but it makes you wonder what they're going to do with all these pieces....

Some of their pitching (Haren, Santana, others? infielders too, in Kendrick and Aybar) also are about to get more expensive in the next year or two, and you have to wonder if the money will be there now.

I think Trout is in for a bit more seasoning in 2012. I think they would have trouble trading Morales so they may trade Trumbo who should have pretty good value for pitching or a power hitting third baseman. They could probably package Trumbo and Callaspo for a power hitting third baseman. On the other hand they don't really need power there now and Callaspo could be a pretty good fit. They may wait to see how Morales does in the spring.

I've heard talk of converting Trumbo to RF. That wouldn't go along with Scioscia's preference for strong gloves in the outfield. Even so I could see an outfield of Trout, Wells and Trumbo in 2013 with Pujols, Kendrick, Aybar and Callaspo in the infield, Morales at DH and Ianetta behind the plate. Pujols is going to need some days off in the field given his arm issues so they'll be able to work in some time in the field for the other 1st basemen.

Abreu is near the end of his career and Hunter is headed that way so I don't think they pick up either of their contracts in 2013.

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
......No way nearly 32 year old Pujols is worth $250m+ over 10 years...

Does that mean Albert is worth, at 31 y/o, $25M/yr for ten years?

Is this a Great Game, or what?

It means he won't last at a productive level till he's 42 years old....assuming he's really just 32 next month.

Seems like a few more injuries last year and last year was his worst so far. Though a great year for anyone else.

I could see this going both ways. Definitely a huge risk on the Angels part. The next three years or so will be very interesting. Albert better be the same old Albert over that span or this could turn out ugly IMO. I don't think the Angels really expect him to be worth anywhere near $25m at age 42. That's only about getting him now and spreading out the money. I think they are hoping he will be worth much "more" than $25m over the next few years and help them win a couple championships.

When all is said and done, I'm betting Albert will wish he'd have stayed in St Louis. In fact, before the 10 years are up, I'm betting he will be back there to retire in a Cardinal uniform. Only with the Angels eating most of his contract.

I'm all for free agency, but sure do miss the days when a star player played his whole career with one team. Maybe Derek Jeter will actually do that.

I am a lifelong Cardinals fan that has deep and long family roots with the organization. I applaud Mr. Dewitt and Co. for NOT matching the Angels offer!

Our local newspaper provides excellent, knowledgable coverage of the team. Jeff Gordon, one of their on line columnist has a great article on it that puts it into perspective. Here's a link-

http://www.stltoday.com/sports...36-0019bb30f31a.html

His final sentence sums it up for me-


"The Cardinals were the Cardinals before Albert. The Cardinals will be the Cardinals after him, too".

quote:

Originally posted by fenwaysouth:

quote:

BOF said...The Cardinals are one of the smartest organizations in baseball.

quote:

Swampboy said... This corner of Cardinal nation thinks it's better to be the team that underpays for the first half of his career than the one that overpays for the second half.

quote:

MidloDad....I guess the security of 10 years, and the ability to do some DH'ing, got his attention.

Truly unfortunate, had he stayed with the Cardinals he could've ended up a team icon like Stan Musial. I think some day he might regret this decision.

I totally agree. Tough business decision that got easier for St Louis as the price and years went up. Going to the American League made a lot of sense across those 10 years, so he can be DHing when he is (gulp) 41. I think he will regret this decision too when he hangs up his cleats to make the trip to Cooperstown. He had a lot going on in St Louis. I can't help but wonder in the back of my mind if Tony LaRussa's retirement played a significant part of this decision.

All good points above. Understand that Albert wanted something and he got it (10 years) if he had given in, it would be bad for all players, when they asked for what they wanted, there would be a lot of "well Albert asked and he didn't get it, why should you".

What bothers me the most is that he went to a team with the exact same color scheme.

Boring!

I think Arte Moreno decided to seize the LA market while the Dodgers are down and this was the way to do it. Despite the overpaying, I would rather have the Pujols contract in some ways than the Wilson contract. I think the Angels will move Trumbo, get rid of Abreu, and they would love to dump the Wells contract but will probably have no luck on that one. Another year like last year and they might just release him and eat the contract.

I also predict that the Rangers will be big players in the Yu Darvish negotiations with the loss of Wilson.

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:
What bothers me the most is that he went to a team with the exact same color scheme.

Boring!

You funny.
Keep in mind that Lance Berkman already signed another year with the cardinals, and they have a few prospects lined up for first for future.

In the end, business is business for both sides.

Pujols got almost what he wanted, which was to be the highest paid Latino player in the game.

quote:

Pujols got almost what he wanted, which was to be the highest paid Latino player in the game.

and his no trade clause, from what I hear.

The Angel moves are really exciting, like when when they landed Vlad, except 2x. I'd like to see the Angels do this:

2012: Hang on to Kendrys Morales and see if he can return from the injury to something near his outstanding original hitting form. If so, he's my DH. If not, Abreu remains full time DH. In any regard, 2012 is obviously Abreu's final year as an Angel.

Infield is set with Pujols, Kendrick, Aybar and I like Callaspo. Keep Izturis as utility infielder.

Outfield of Wells LF, Bourjos CF and Hunter RF, keep Trout in the bigs as 4th outfielder, like end of last year. Package Trumbo (as much as I like him) for a 5th starter

Then, in 2013 Hunter's contract is up, and Trout slides into RF as starter. I'm beting 2011 was an anomaly for Wells, and he'll return to at least .270 20+ HR guy who can defend.

What I would like to see is a major league team actually develop there own players. Maybe even develop the ones from the good old USA.

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Threebagger...I also predict that the Rangers will be big players in the Yu Darvish negotiations with the loss of Wilson.

No doubt. I'm watching this one closely, as they have to pay/win a posting fee to negotiate. So add that posting fee (which goes to Japanese team) plus the players contract to his total salary. I don't think the posting fee counts as salary toward the luxury tax. I'm curious how close this possible Darvish contract is going to be to the new CJ Wilson contract for anyone. The Red Sox went through this with Dice-K. They paid $50K+ for the posting, and I seriously doubt they would do it again in hindsight. Dice-K has been very marginal for the money invested. Too much risk and too little reward.

quote:

like2rake said... The Angel moves are really exciting, like when when they landed Vlad, except 2x. I'd like to see the Angels do this:

2012: Hang on to Kendrys Morales and see if he can return from the injury to something near his outstanding original hitting form. If so, he's my DH. If not, Abreu remains full time DH. In any regard, 2012 is obviously Abreu's final year as an Angel.

Infield is set with Pujols, Kendrick, Aybar and I like Callaspo. Keep Izturis as utility infielder.

Outfield of Wells LF, Bourjos CF and Hunter RF, keep Trout in the bigs as 4th outfielder, like end of last year. Package Trumbo (as much as I like him) for a 5th starter

Then, in 2013 Hunter's contract is up, and Trout slides into RF as starter. I'm beting 2011 was an anomaly for Wells, and he'll return to at least .270 20+ HR guy who can defend.

Sound logic. I was thinking along the same lines. Izturis cn be more than a utility guy if needed. Vernon Wells will turn it around. Wells has been a very good player for a long time. Trout is exciting and Hunter will be playing for his next contract. I expect HUnter to have a break out year, and we'll see if he is still a bona fide Centerfielder.

If there is one glaring weakness with the Angels, I think it is at catcher right now. I've always like Ianetta, and there is no doubt Scoscia will work with him. He will get better, and he has a new pitching staff to work with. As I always say...your team is only as good as your catcher.

Awesome move by Arte. Padres will hit a new low for suckiness this year so you'll have 3m potential fans just over an hour away,plus everyone in LA.will jump on the bandwagon.

If St. Louis really wanted him they would of had him.Their offer was just enough not to embarass the organization(pi$$ off fans)but not enough to retain him. Think about it. If Albert signed with the Cards for 254m for 10yrs combine that with 110m for the past 11 years he'd average just over 17m for 21 years of service. Cardinals had a bargain the past 11 years